Red light district of Amsterdam

The girls you see in the windows may or may not be their own boss. In any case, once you accept their invitation to go in, they will open the door for you and you will be told the rules, the price and the exact features of what you are getting. It’s a clean contract and both sides have to be respectful of the rules when they close the deal. You will probably have a time limit and specific requirements pertaining to the house. Follow the rules and your instincts and enjoy the freedom of legal, multi-cultural ass-getting in Europe’s most famous Red Light District. However, temptations are various. You can start yourself off with something light, such as an erotic show or a strip club. We suggest you check out the daily program at the Moulin Rouge, Casa Rosso and the Bananen Bar and Club.

When you are done with your heart’s desires, you can follow your cerebral urges and learn something while you’re here. The Sex Museum and the Erotic Museum may be two educational stops where you can update your BDSM history or cunnilingus art knowledge. And when you are done with this topic, you can move on to the hard-and-fast science of THC at the Hash, Marijuana and Hemp Museum. Find out the full spectrum of using Jah’s gifts and their benign effects on daily human life. After the cerebral adventure makes you weary Amsterdam’s red lght district abounds with coffee shops where you can lean back, relax and enjoy what you’ve been learning about. And again, there is no need to feel sneaky about anything – purchasing and consuming hash and weed is legal in coffee shops, just don’t light up out of the blue in the street.

Beaches of Grand Canyon

My long awaited Grand Canyon private trip in May was even more special because of the Glen Canyon Environmental Studies controlled “flood” of 45,000 cfs that was conducted for a week in March, 2012. BuRec’s official designation was “a habitat-building test flow”. Would the beaches be restored or would they be scoured? I was hopeful but I had my doubts, too.

Overall, I’d say the amount of sand restored to most of the popular campsites is greater than before. But from a camper’s perspective it’s tough to appreciate the tons of restored sand when you’re hauling gear from the rafts up steep inclines of sliding sand to the campsite. It’s my opinion that the beaches are somewhat improved above the Little Colorado confluence. The improvement below the Little Colorado confluence is very evident, but some previously sandy campsites are mostly rock now. I was also impressed by the dozens of new “mini-beaches”, pristine and never touched, though probably too small for most parties’ camping desires. A couple of the guys who had been on the river seven months earlier recalled a ten foot tree at the far end of Grapevine camp. It was now up to its neck, only two feet protruding.

However, the siltation continues unabated at the mouths of Lake Mead and Lake Powell. I wonder if the Glen Canyon Environmental Studies group could figure a way to move all that silt from the top of Lake Powell past the dam…. And then, ….if we could just do something about all that smog and aircraft noise over the Grand Canyon….

New York, Ithaca or Venice with a helicopter tour

Central New York State offers few more picturesque towns for a long weekend getaway than Ithaca — gorges, ready access to the Finger Lakes, and the lures of Cornell University beckon many.

But a good helicopter tours over Ithaca can cost a few dollars — and if you tire easily of upper-crusty undergraduates lolling about, the money will be the least of your worries.

Best bet for a less obvious getaway: Geneva. About an hour from Ithaca via helicopter, off two-lane Route 14, Geneva is a little smaller than Ithaca, but lacks none of its charm. You’ll find more reasonably-priced tour companies and operators, though not too many hotel options.

Several of the better New York State helicopter tour operators are actually closer to Geneva than Ithaca, and the local school, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, attracts an earthier breed of budding scholar.

It’s one of the few great weekends for under $100 anywhere in the East.

Why not try Venice. Venice is well known for its gondolas, the Bridge of Sighs and the Piazza San Marco, and not that much for helicopter tours. (Critics would site its decaying infrastructure, odoriferous canals and decadent culture.) It is less well known as a progenitor of American democracy.

From the 1400’s until pretty recently, the Venetian Republic boasted a system of checks and balances that was regarded by political scientists as nearly perfect.

Although the thousand-year life of the Republic was marred by imperfections — see ‘Othello’ — the idea of Venice as a citadel of constitutionalism affected Jefferson and Madison,and served as a model for the framers of the U.S. Constitution.

Venetian canals are evidence that romantic myths are often preferable to — depending on the winds — truth. But knowledge of Venice’s democratic heritage should excite the imagination of any American traveler to Italy’s coastal jewel.

Grand Canyon Skywalk

For years travelers have counted on the ‘Michelin Guide’ for advice on fine-dining throughout the Continent. Now they can be guaranteed a table when they arrive for lunch or dinner at some Guide-listed restaurants. A Grand Canyon-based organization, Skywalk and Hualapai, representing more than 400 restaurants, hotels and resorts, will accept reservations on behalf of its members. Included are over 90 European fine-dining establishments rating two or three stars in the Michelin Guide.

If Justin was reached, there would be even more speechless. Niagara Falls is like the Creek in front of the Grand Canyon, Arizona. Is not a joke. Even in Chicago with an acquaintance commented that, as mentioned, that I’m going to the Grand Canyon. It architect, photographer, I both understand the scale. According to the architect, who has roamed the enough in these places, Niagara Falls is exaggerated as the size – the pictures give him a clue as to the thing, and in fact is not so. And with the Grand Canyon in Arizona is just the opposite – the human mind cannot perceive its huge scale and photos present it as a mountain gorge, they can’t feel the dimensions, distances.

Travel to the Canyon, water from these thoughts and wonder how it will look, in comparison with the photos. From Flagstaff path first goes on Highway 40 West, Route 66 (around the city there are signs where it passes the old route 66, which continues along Highway 40), then from the right starting in the North, to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. He meanders around the 270 miles in length in Northern Arizona. About 30 miles off the southern edge has a specially built road and is accessible for tourists. Here is the main base of the Grand Canyon National Park, where visitors come and spray fro the paths and roads along the edge.

I just came back from Grand Canyon Skywalk. Grand Canyon National Park, a World Heritage Site, encompasses 1,218,375 acres and lies on the Colorado Plateau in northwestern Arizona. The land is semi-arid and consists of raised plateaus and structural basins typical of the southwestern United States.

delayed

The next Shannon Wallace mystery will be out in MAY OF 2012 — sorry for the delay!

Summertime in South Lake

It is hotter than blue blazes in South Lake.

I remember a summer just like this.

It was the summer of my discontent.

check out the story in Avenging Angel by Kim Smith available now for Kindle, Nook, and in paperback.

It has been…

…too long since anyone has been in here. I used to keep a lot better diary when Dwayne and I were in college. Now? I am lucky to take a daily shower. Yuck! But anyway.

If you have been with us all these years then you should know that the third book in our series is in an editors hands and soon we will be off and running on a new adventure.

The book is called Crooked Angel and it has more twists and turns than a mountain road. Dee is pretty mean to me in it too. And surprise surprise Sal is a lot nicer. Oh and you finally get to meet my bestie, Katie.

Our author, Kim Smith, is even now planning out the next book. She got a
Contract or something.

So. If you wanna be in the fourth Shannon Wallace mystery then you have to post a comment on here and friend me on Facebook (if you aren’t already). That’s it!

And thanks for being interested in the lives of two weirdoes like us.

And the great news is….

… Dee and I will be back for another round! The third Shannon Wallace book, Crooked Angel, has been accepted by Red Rose Publishing.

If it has been TOO long since you read of our escapades, you can get the first two on Kindle! Check out Kim Smith’s website, or blog for details!

The date when the book will be available is still pending but check back! we will let you know 😛 !

Getting going again

whew… what a long hiatus we have taken from the blog… don’t worry it is all Dwayne’s fault (as usual!) — but you will be happy to know that ole Kim Smith has finished with the next (third) Shannon Wallace mystery book and it is in the hands of the publisher.

If you are a praying sort… would you mind, you know…?

Don’t you dare go anywhere!

That Kim Smith is working on the next Shannon Wallace book! Don’t you dare go anywhere!!